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One of those handful of episodes that's focused on Brock...
I remember when I was little, the first time I took one look at Vulpix I fell in love <3 It's sooo cute! It still is one of my favorite Pokemon to this day. But that Fire Spin at the end was a little overdone, don'tcha think? But I did like the fact that the writers made an episode about the whole "inner beauty" thing, it was definitely interesting to watch. I was really glad to see Brock get a new catch, especially since Misty got Psyduck.

^ I have to agree. Despite the fact I always got the vibe Suzy had owned Vulpix for a few years and it was semi-powerful, that Fire Spin was a little too powerful.

Anyway, probably one of my favorite Kanto episodes. One of my favorite Pokemon ever debuts in style (no pun intended), along with one of my favorite minor characters ever, Suzie. I loved how down-to-earth she was, it was just a nice trait to see. TR's scam was hilarious, and to this day I wonder why people liked those do overs on their Pokemon. Plus, Brock got some great character development as well. Twas nice to see him get a capture, even though poor Vulpix never got much development after...and I still say that thing had lots of potential. :/

All in all, minus the super Fire Spin, one of Kanto's best. 4.9/5.

I claimed Skarmory!

If you think the Sinnoh saga has been the best saga of the whole show, copy and paste this into your signature! (started by FlameRose)

A new twist on Pokemon: fashion! It was cool to get something new like fashion in the anime, even if is was a little too much. I liked Salon Rocket and how TR were making Pokemon look cute since it showed that they could easily be designers and not just criminals. I am glad Brock got to take care of Suzie's Vulpix. I think it will provide him with a lot of Pokemon Breeder experience. 7/10.

The make-up that the Raichu and Dodrio were wearing near the beginning was funny, though I sort of feel sorry for the poor Pokemon. I really liked the make-up Team Rockst put on Misty, it really made her look like a clown. ^_^

The make-up that the Raichu and Dodrio were wearing near the beginning was funny, though I sort of feel sorry for the poor Pokemon. I really liked the make-up Team Rockst put on Misty, it really made her look like a clown. ^_^

I was glad that Brock got to keep Vulpix. It's such a cute Pokemon.

lol I love this episode as well!! and you're right about the Raichu and Dodrio at the beginning. They looked like child prostitutes. lol

Brock actually got an episode to focus and even got a new Pokémon to boot so it was a great episode just because of that. It had the generic "Beauty is skin-deep" stuff but it was cool. I liked Misty's makeover that she received from Team Rocket. Maybe it was just her clothes though.

Fighting for real American turtles everywhere. Pro-Turtle since 6/30/13

Great episode, especially Misty's makeover, the stupid costumes for Pokemon and lots of people believing Team Rocket. Another Kanto masterpiece, 10/10, like most Kanto episodes. Brock in love was funny as always.

I love this episode, I chuckled at Misty's makeover. This was a good introduction to both breeding and Vulpix. Susie is pretty, her and Brock would be a good couple. I'm glad Susie trusted Brock with Vulpix.

The way they animated Vulpix's Fire Spin attack was probably the best they have ever done with it. When Brock metioned that it was Vulpix's best attack, I guess they just wanted to make it look more powerful.

Hahah, just watched this one too in my run of re-watching a lot of Pokémon episodes and I loved Brock's role in the first part of this episode. He's was sooooo nervous. For the rest was this a good introduction to both breeding and one of my favorite Pokémons, Vulpix. Team Rocket's role with their salon was also a nice humorous addition to the story. Imo, this episode was definitely better than the previous episode. It was just a lot more enjoyable and interesting to watch.

I have poor fashion taste, but even I know that Misty has bad tastes. Then again, Team Rocket doesn't have the best eye for fashion either... But it's made up with Brock breaking the radar. “I want to breed like you! I want to model you!”

This episode I don't believe counts as filler because Brock gets a new Pokémon at the end, but it sure feels like one. Last episode was boring and uninteresting (yet still had a memorable moment or two), and this one is a slight step-up from it, but not by much. Most of the time, it's just talk-talk-talk on inner beauty, and it got a bit annoying. Sure, it's nice to learn more about what breeders really are, but it came off as more anvilicious than anything else (despite it being a nice message). Thankfully, though, we do get a nice battle between Ash and Team Rocket, which has been a while since the Pokémon actually went head-to-head. It's also been a while since we saw Koffing and Ekans fighting nicely. They actually can fight well strategically and creatively, but we unfortunately don't see this very often, and it sadly goes away some time after they evolve.

The comedy is strong in 4KIDS' writing of dialogue, and it does show when it's between two people. Team Rocket have the most of it, but it's not neglected elsewhere. Ash and Misty in particular bounce off each other very well thanks to the combination of the writing and Veronica Taylor and Rachel Lillis' performances. I'm sure they bicker in the original Japanese, it's just that the dub made it more of a belligerent sexual tension, and it's funny. There's good chemistry between Ash and Misty even when they deny it many times over, but again, it mostly is because of the voice actresses' performances. Even though the episode didn't necessarily focus on them, it was still rather obvious.

I'm going to come out and say that I find Suzy annoying and bland. Sure, she's a memorable “one-shot” character and she's an excellent example of a Pokémon breeder outside of Brock. But I didn't like how she basically exists to give speeches on what true beauty is, even if it's what she knows best. It added to the whole anvilicious feel to the episode, and it gave me bad flashbacks of the infamous friendship speeches in the Yu-Gi-Oh! dub (even though it predated the dub by a few years). And from what I remember in her second appearance, she doesn't get better. I will also say to get out of the way that because of how the anime portrayed Pokémon attacks, I thought Vulpix was part-Psychic for a bit because of this episode. Not often do you see non-Psychic Pokémon's eyes glow.

You know, Salon Roquet would've probably been successful and quietly dropped off the map had Meowth not liked showing off his big mouth. Though I think he was the mastermind behind the salon judging from how detailed he was about it. Either way, it left a nice memory in how Team Rocket just sucks at fashion. But their disguises and idea here did make it to Pokémon Puzzle League for the Spa Service side-quest, which is where I personally remember it the most.

So overall, there's really not much to say about this episode. It kinda dragged for the first half, the plot did come to a halt for the sake of meeting Brock's potential love-interest/idol and so he can get a new Pokémon for the first in a while. Was it really worth watching? Eh, if you're interested in learning about breeders in the Pokémon world, it's more-or-less for that particular purpose. With exception of Vulpix and I guess Misty's strange taste in fashion, one isn't missing anything.

At least the next episode carries a punch still felt around the fandom fifteen/sixteen years after it aired.